Just the Factoids

We couldn’t bear to write another Carlos-Garcia-steps-down story. But we could round up a few tidbits about the outgoing superintendent

Scott Dickensheets



Time Lapsed



5 years: Garcia's tenure as superintendent of the Clark County School district.


3 years: His longest stay in any previous educational administrative job.


"My vision when I took this position was to stay here until I retire": Garcia, January 2001.


"As recently as January, Garcia said he ... wanted to keep the job until he retired in 2010": Review-Journal, April 15.


"If he sits down for more than 10 minutes, I'm amazed": Gail Garcia, his wife.


90 days: Notice his contract required him to give.




In the Beginning



"My leadership is honest, warm, sensitive, caring, collaborative, humorous, demanding and, above all, visionary": Garcia in his letter of application to the school board.


Twice: Times in his letter he referred to himself as visionary.


Kidding: What we're not doing—he really called himself a visionary.


Less than a month: Period between his July 5, 2000, hiring and his infamous use of the N-word in a radio interview.


You mean, people took that negatively?: "What hurt me most was for anybody in any way to insinuate that I would say that in a negative manner."


Muffled smacking sound: Light slap applied to Garcia's wrist by school board: "... move that the board hereby express its disapproval [bureaucratic droning] ensure that no such word will ever be repeated [additional bureaucratic droning] business of educating our children."




History of an Iffy Idea, Part 1



"Edison Schools' chances slim": Sun headline, December 6, 2000.


"Firm to run seven county schools": Headline, March 16, 2001.


"I could run circles around them (Edison) if I had their resources": Garcia.


"Improved test scores may save Edison contract": headline, February 27




With Enemies Like This, Who Needs Other Enemies?



"I'm going to bury him and send him back to Fresno": Wendell Williams mixing metaphors, March 2001, in the wake of Garcia's support for Edison schools and his N-word incident.


"Moral turpitude" ... "illegal, lewd, amoral or violent activity": Proposed reasons for renaming a Clark County school, March 2004—a debate prompted by Wendell Williams' double-dipping scandal (there's an elementary school named after him).




Quotable Quotes



"People tell me it can't be done, but I say we can make this elephant dance": Garcia on getting the nation's then-sixth-largest school district under control.


"This is a 15-round championship fight ... I've got 14 more rounds to come back at you": Garcia on his media critics.


"The only people who don't mind change are wet babies": Garcia on opponents to his plans.


"I would give this job my life": Garcia, March 2000.


"I spend an hour just answering e-mails": Hey, us, too!




History of an Iffy Idea, Part 2



Break apart: What state lawmaker Sandra Tiffany was proposing for the school district about the time Garcia arrived.


Breaking apart: What Garcia opposed.


Administratively breaking apart: What Garcia favored, when he divided the district into five administrative regions.


$440,000: Cost for temporary offices for new regional superintendents.


"School district reorganization given low marks": Headline, April 22, 2002.


"To have one big monolith is a mistake": Tiffany, renewing her call to break up the school district in 2002.




Test Scores



Higher-than-average: The school board's evaluation of Garcia's performance in his first year.


"Whew": Garcia's response.


$10,000: Bonus he was eligible for that first year—and turned down, saying the district couldn't afford it.


But: He agreed to longevity bonus that would kick in if he stayed on the job for five satisfactory years.


Quote that at the time didn't seem ironic: "I'm in it for the long haul."


More than five hours: Time school board spent behind closed doors evaluating Garcia's second year.


"Mr. Garcia has done a fine job": The upshot.


"Garcia gives self passing grades on evaluation": Headline, January 22, 2003.


Don't forget: He's a visionary!




Speaking the Kids' Lingo



"He talked to us like we were human beings": A Valley High School student participating in a meet-the superintendent-candidates symposium, March 2000.


"Clark County schools have the feel of a prison": Garcia, April 2000.


"You're lucky!": A Woodbury Middle School student, upon being told Garcia ran the whole school district.




History of an Iffy Idea, Part 3



Algebra: What Garcia says all students should learn in eighth grade


Square root of zero, times zero, plus zero to the zeroest power: Number of students who agreed (not counting math nerds).


"District to scale back ambitious algebra push": Headline, February 18, 2003.




Scenes from the Funding Wars



Progress is contraindicated: "When I first got here, we were $1,000 below the national average in student funding. Now we're $2,000 below." Garcia, March 2004


$33.28: Amount the state spent on K-12 education per $1,000 earned by Nevadans, according to the Census Bureau in 2002—a figure that put the state ahead of only Florida. National average: $48.05.


$879 million: Increase in statewide education funding the Garcia-led InVest plan sought from the 2003 Legislature.


Square root of zero, times zero, plus zero to the zeroest power: Chance that was gonna happen.


One-sixth: What they got.




The End



"Emotionally, this is a very hard decision": Garcia, on his decision to go work for textbook publisher McGraw-Hill.


But not financially: "The money is phenomenal," said board member Larry Mason of Garcia's new job.




Assessment



"I don't know if we'll be able to find somebody who can live up to what he's done": Mary Jo Parise-Malloy, Nevadans for Quality Education, on the search for Garcia's replacement.


"I don't think he actually did anything but turn things into a bigger mess than it already was": Gadfly Marzette Lewis.


"Nobody will ever criticize me more than I criticize myself": Garcia.


"Looking back, I was a bargain": Garcia, after announcing his resignation, speculating that it'll cost upward of $300,000 to replace him (his salary: $212,000).

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